India reopens bids for $10-bn chip plan

NEW DELHI : India has reopened functions for its daring chipmaking programme after the three aspirants, who utilized in 2022, didn’t qualify for the federal authorities’s financial incentives. The India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), which is implementing the $10-billion programme, will accept current functions from 1 June, allowing every new and present candidates to submit their proposals.

The ministry of electronics and information know-how (Meity) talked about in a press launch that the Modified Semicon India Programme will keep open till December 2024, not like the ultimate time when it was open for a brief interval of 45 days.

“All candidates who had utilized beneath the scheme for organising of Semiconductor Fabs and Scheme for organising of Display Fab (earlier schemes) are allowed to submit functions beneath Modified Scheme for organising of Semiconductor Fabs and Modified Scheme for organising of Display Fabs after incorporating applicable modification of their proposals,” the statement said.

Applications for Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme will also remain open till December 2024. The ministry added that 26 applications have been received under the DLI scheme, and five have been approved.

Responding to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday that Vedanta-Foxconn, the leading applicant among last year’s three applicants, would not get government approval, Union IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted: “The first window for more expensive 28nm fabs was kept open for 45 days only in January 2022 and received three applicants that were evaluated by ISM and its advisory group. The strategy now is also encouraging mature nodes of >40nm – current and new players may apply afresh in various nodes that they have the technology for. It is expected that some of the current applicants will reapply, and new fresh investors will also apply,” the minister talked about.

The lower the nanometer (nm) measure, the additional superior and dear the chip. For event, a 28nm chip consumes a lot much less power, heats a lot much less, and performs greater than a 40nm chip.

Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources Plc and the world’s largest contract producer, Foxconn’s semiconductor arm, had launched a joint $20 billion funding for a semiconductor fab plant, display-fab plant, and outsourced semiconductor assembly and try (OSAT) plant in Gujarat’s Dholera. The bulk of the funding was meant for the semiconductor fab plant.

International Semiconductor Consortium (ISMC), a 3 approach partnership between Abu Dhabi-based Next Orbit Ventures and Israel’s Tower Semiconductor, beneath acquisition by Intel and Singapore’s IGSS Ventures had been the alternative two that had put of their functions. Mint reported earlier this 12 months ISMC would resubmit its utility beneath the modified scheme the place the subsidy was raised to 50% from 30% earlier, and manufacturing of nodes above 40nm was permitted.

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Updated: 01 Jun 2023, 12:03 AM IST